Paige Powers’ Postpartum Push to the 2026 CrossFit Games

August 25th, 2025

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up premium subscriber edition.

In today’s edition:

  • 👶🏋️ Seven months postpartum, Paige Powers is back training and targeting the 2026 CrossFit Games.

  • 🛑 Shiny object syndrome is killing your gym — here’s why.

  • 🏃‍♂️ Noah Ohlsen explains why the jump from CrossFit to HYROX isn’t as simple as it looks.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

You’re not going to see the top HYROX guy all of a sudden become the top CrossFitter, but you’re also probably not going to see the top CrossFitter be the top HYROX guy.”

Noah Ohlsen in an interview with Men’s Health UK.
PROFILE

“This Is My Purpose” – How Paige Powers Balances Motherhood and Training for the 2026 CrossFit Season

Credit: @_paige_powers / Instagram

Paige Powers believed that once she became a mother, her athletic career would end.

But now that the 22-year-old, two-time CrossFit Games athlete is a mother to an almost seven-month-old daughter, she realizes this is far from the truth.

  • “I still have competitive aspirations, as much, if not more than I did before…I’d like to get back to where I was before, if not better,” Powers said in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up, adding that she has eyes on the 2026 CrossFit Games. 

That being said, her reason for competing is now quite different.

  • “Number one is just being a good role model for my daughter. I think it kind of sounds cheesy, but I want to be somebody that she can grow up and be proud of,” Powers said.

And on her end, Powers wants to be able to tell her daughter, “Hey, I was able to do this while I was breastfeeding and taking care of you,” she added.

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SPEED READS

🇺🇸🏋️ Everyday Heroes Assemble: The CrossFit Service Cup, powered by Mayhem Athlete, kicks off September 15–22. Entry is $10 ($45 bundled with tee, patch, and Mayhem Athlete programming); anyone can participate. Top finishers advance to Cookeville in November for the in-person Service Games.

📉🍷 Booze on the Decline: Only 54% of Americans drink now — the lowest rate in 90 years. Young adults and women are leading the drop, daily drinking has just hit a record low, and experts say the “moderate drinking is healthy” myth is officially dead.

💪 Stack Muscle, Not Excuses — BarBend’s 2025 roundup pins down the top protein powders for gains. From maximizing recovery to boosting strength, the guide breaks down what really matters in your shake — protein quality, transparency, and value.

🐐🇺🇸 What Did Rich Think About the Games?: Rich Froning and his podcast crew dive into this year’s CrossFit Games coverage, unpacking what landed, what missed the mark, and what the future holds for the sport’s evolution under the Games spotlight.

🔥🥵 “Come Out of Retirement, I Want Your Best!”: Fresh off his 2025 CrossFit Games win, Jayson Hopper called out Mat Fraser, Rich Froning, and smack-talked his friend Dallin Pepper in a viral IG post. The comment section is chaotic; the dumbbell is …probably ruined.

ICYMI: 🏋️ Behind bars at Avenal, CrossFit is more than fitness; it’s transformative.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Why Your Affiliate Is Drowning in Programs (And What to Do Instead)

Credit: @besthouroftheirday / Instagram

Your affiliate is struggling with revenue. Members are leaving. You're working 60-hour weeks.

So what do you do?

You start a nutrition program, followed by a kids' class, then corporate wellness, and finally Olympic lifting specialization.

Sound familiar?

If you're nodding your head, you've fallen victim to one of the most harmful traps in affiliate ownership: shiny object syndrome. And it's slowly killing your business.

COMPETITIONS

Noah Ohlsen Explains Why CrossFit Games Athletes Can’t Hang with HYROX Elites

Credit: Scott Freymond

Ten-time CrossFit Games individual athlete Noah Ohlsen recently weighed in on the overlap between CrossFit and HYROX elites. 

While both are impressive feats of athleticism, he believes they don’t quite translate from one to the other. 

  • “When I watched those dudes run, I was like, wow, we’re so far off. There’s no way that top CrossFit athletes are going to be able to hang with the top, probably, ten HYROX guys,” Ohlsen said in an interview with Men’s Health UK.

Ohlsen, a new father, did not compete in the 2025 CrossFit Games. He is a signed competitor with the World Fitness Project (WFP) and has recently participated in other endurance sports, including HYROX and Ironman triathlons. 

His best finish at the Games was in 2019, when he took second place behind Mat Fraser, earning a podium spot. 

In the interview published last week, Ohlsen discussed his extensive career as an elite CrossFit athlete and spoke in detail about the larger world of fitness beyond just CrossFit training.

HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.

  • 🔥Check out this power clean from coach James Townsend at 138 kilos/305 pounds.

  • Happy belated birthday (8/20) to Morning Chalk Up alum Kelly Sekulovski.

  • 🎂Happy belated birthday (8/21) to Cole Sager.

  • Well done to Dennis Olsson on this 125-kilo/320-pound clean and jerk at the Teenage CrossFit Games.

  • 🙌Don’t sleep on this one either - congratulations to 14-year-old Gia Griffith on this 83-kilo/185-pound clean and jerk.